


Interrogation Techniques

by Mandergee



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Framework, No spoilers- this never actually happened and likely won't, Philinda - Freeform, Philinda chatroom fic, Philinda reunion, a tiny touch of angst, so just don't if you haven't seen season 4 and save yourself, spoilers for season 4 only and nothing more
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-12
Updated: 2017-04-12
Packaged: 2018-10-17 22:38:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10603725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mandergee/pseuds/Mandergee
Summary: She was sent to do a job, but Melinda May finds herself in another situation entirely, and while none of it is real....ALL of it is.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I like to speculate, and for those of you in the Philinda chat this is familiar.

“I don’t like that you have to go back there.”

“To Hydra? They’ll come looking for me.” The sheets were cool now, twisted around them and pulled up just enough to cover her breasts, an act of modesty Phil found endearing- especially after the events of the night prior. “I’m twelve hours past when I was expected back. Remember, I was supposed to come here to  _ interrogate _ you, not sleep with you.”

“Then don’t go back.”

“Are you like this in the real world, too?" Melinda May stared up at the ceiling for a moment, then turned her head to stare thoughtfully at him. “It’s funny, you know.”

“What? Your interrogation technique?”

“No. That the first time we did  _ this _ - _ ”  _ Her hand moved from beneath the sheets to gesture at the aftermath of their evening activities. “-was here. Where it isn’t real. Where it doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me.” He reached up, grabbed her hand and pulled it to his lips, pressed them against the soft skin until she smiled. Let go only to reach for her cheek, tracing the curve of it. “Melinda. You and I- we have something outside of the Framework that we owe it to ourselves to get back to. Daisy told me that we’ve been partners for a long time, and I know you feel it too.”

“I think we might have been more than partners.”

“I know we were.” And the guilt gnawed at him as another flash of memory alit his brain, the sensation of pushing her up against a bookshelf and burying his fingers in her hair. Smelling her, tasting her, realizing that something was wrong while a part of him wished that he’d done that so long ago. “I have something I have to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“I…” He didn’t  _ want _ to, didn’t want to spoil the moment, to drive her away. There was a chance she wouldn’t leave because of what he said, but the fear clenched at his heart like a vice, and as he took a deep breath Melinda let her own hand venture to the scar above his heart, pressing her palm against it. 

“Go on.”

“I kissed her. You. Her. The decoy Radcliffe made  _ of _ you. I thought it was her...and for a minute it was so  _ real _ .”

“You did.”

“I did.” And he’d made love to  _ Melinda _ , though the thought of how his hands hadn’t  _ really _ been tracing the pattern of the freckles on her thigh or the birthmark on her hip was distressing. He wanted  _ real _ . He wanted the escape, the idea of waking up beside her in the real sunlight, and not behind windows coated in tinfoil and duct tape. The fear of seeing none of it had him rolling over, clutching her arms and staring deep into her eyes like he’d never see her again. Like he needed to keep her  _ there _ . “Don’t go back to Hydra. If I lose you again-”

“You won’t lose me, Phil.” She kissed him, and it was everything it had been when he’d pulled her into bed the moment he’d realized who she was. What she was to  _ him _ . “You know I have to go back if we want to get home. There’s no one else in there who can do what I can, and we still have to save Fitz.”

“I know.” But he didn’t  _ want _ it, still, and as she moved away from him to slide out of bed he took one last moment to watch her move naked in the dim light of his bedroom, to see those freckles and the birthmark and the tiny bite he’d left on the underside of her breast. “Be safe, Melinda.”

“I’ll find you.” How, he didn’t know, but the look she flashed over her shoulder as she dressed told him that the trust they had in the real world had survived the transition to the Framework, and she  _ would _ find him. She had to. “I love you. And when we get back- I expect that kiss that you meant for _me._ ”

“I love you too.” The bed was cold again when he rolled over a second later into the space she’d vacated, and he buried his face into the pillow to draw in the scent of her hair. To memorize it like had every inch of her skin.

Because he was scared. And although she’d promised...he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d ever lay eyes on Melinda May again. 


End file.
